Blogs

Our blogs provide fresh, impassioned and authoritative commentary and insight about the variety of civil-liberties issues that the ACLU of Michigan takes up each day in our courts, governments and communities.

Get Involved

With the help of dedicated volunteers and community activists, the ACLU of Michigan works to raise awareness about the importance of preserving the individual rights and liberties that are guaranteed to all people in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States.

Get Help

The ACLU of Michigan is one of more than 50 affiliates in the United States. As such, we encourage you to know as much as possible about your civil liberties. Further, if you feel those liberties have been violated, we suggest you submit a complaint. We only accept complaints that occur within the State of Michigan. If your complaint arose in a state other than Michigan, you must contact the ACLU office in that state.

About Us

Since our founding in 1920, the American Civil Liberties Union has led the fight to conserve our most precious liberties. Through the passion of our supporters, we have grown from a roomful of civil liberties activists to an organization of more than 500,000 active members and supporters with 54 state affiliate offices as well as a legislative office in Washington, DC.

Racial Justice

The ACLU of Michigan’s Racial Justice Program aims to preserve and extend the constitutional rights of people of color. Despite enormous progress, the promise of fair and equal treatment for people of color remains elusive. The ACLU is committed to combating racism in all its forms. Through our advocacy, which includes litigation, community organizing and training, legislative initiatives, and public education, we strive to educate and empower the public.

ACLU, NAACP and Other Groups Offer Expertise to Assist Schools in Moving from “Zero Tolerance” Policies to “Rethink Discipline”

2017-08-15 00:00:00

In the wake of recent laws dramatically reworking Michigan’s previously harsh “zero tolerance” student discipline policies, a group of eight organizations is reaching out to state schools to assist them in implementing new practices.

ACLU Commends Grand Rapids Police Decision to End Trespass Policy That Led to Disproportionate Arrest of African-Americans

2017-06-29 00:00:00

The ACLU is hailing a recent decision by the Grand Rapids Police Department to end a policy that permitted police officers to arrest innocent people for trespassing at local businesses during operating hours—even when business owners didn’t ask them to leave.

Chained No More, Told Too Late: The Story of Juneteenth

2017-06-19 00:00:00

Regardless of your ethnicity, you have ancestors who were living somewhere in the world on the historic day of June 19, 1865. For the black residents of Galveston, Texas, however, the day was like no other. On that day, a Union general arrived to Galveston, making the belated announcement that slavery had ended in the former Confederate states, including Texas—two and a half years prior.

This week the Coalition to End Unconstitutional Tax Foreclosures released a short animated video explaining the basis of the heart-breaking, government-created crisis that is causing tens of thousands of Detroiters to lose their homes.

ACLU, ACRL Return To Court In Continuing Effort To Compel The White House To Produce Giuliani Commission Memo About Muslim Ban

2017-05-26 00:00:00

As part of an ongoing attempt to expose the true intentions behind President Trump’s Muslim ban, the ACLU of Michigan, the Arab American Civil Rights League (ACRL) and others filed a motion to compel the White House to turn over a memo from a commission established by Rudolph Giuliani prior to the election to look into ways of legalizing the ban.

The ACLU of Michigan sent a letter to the Taylor Police Department, urging re-training and policy changes for its officers in the wake of a traffic stop last year in which an African-American motorist was snatched from his car, put in a chokehold until he claims he blacked out and then, once arrested, stripped to his underwear and left in a cold cell for hours. The letter also calls for discipline for officers involved in the incident, in which 26-year-old motorist Calvin Jones was violently arrested. His wife and underage brother-in-law were also taken into police custody.

Anti-cop Speech is Not a Crime. It’s Protected by the First Amendment

2017-02-23 00:00:00

Freedom of speech is being threated this week by a criminal prosecution brought by the State of Michigan against Nheru Littleton, a Detroit man being charged with making a “terroristic threat” for statements he posted on Facebook last year in the tense period following the fatal police shootings of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile and the subsequent attack on Dallas officers during a protest there.

The Controversy Behind Michigan's Emergency Manager Law and Its Role in the Flint Water Crisis

2017-02-23 00:00:00

Michigan’s emergency manager law is once again being fingered as a primary culprit in the lead poisoning of Flint’s water supply.

First, it was a gubernatorial task force. Then a bi-partisan legislative committee. Now, the Michigan’s Civil Rights Commission, in a report released last week, is casting blame on the controversial law for its role in the ongoing Flint Water Crisis.